Ginger Minj, Orlando drag icon and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” All Star, has had a scary good Halloween season this year.
They can currently be seen in Disney+’s huge Halloween hit “Hocus Pocus 2,” a follow up to the 1993 cult classic original that brings the Sanderson Sisters back to Salem. Disney says the film is the streaming service’s biggest domestic film premiere ever.
Minj is also racking up views hosting, with Monet X Change, Hulu’s variety show “Huluween Dragstravaganza,” a Halloween-themed special featuring several other well-known queens.
They can also currently be seen running amok around the U.S. starring in “Hocus Pocus Halloween Bash,” an all-new original show that wraps at The Abbey in Orlando Oct. 31.
We chatted with the new queen of Halloween about their roles in “Hocus Pocus 2,” “Huluween Dragstravaganza” and why the LGBTQ community loves the haunted season so much.
WATERMARK: You posted a video online of your name in the credits of “Hocus Pocus 2.” What were you feeling when you saw your name for the first time in the credits of a Disney film?
GINGER MINJ: It’s so surreal, and it’s groundbreaking. We’re the first openly drag characters in any Disney property. To have it be in a movie like “Hocus Pocus,” that has meant so much to not just the LGBTQ community but to the drag community in particular for so many years, to actually see that validation, that little piece of the puzzle that I am a part of, seeing my name up there, it drove it home. It made it real.
It had been something that was in the back of my head for almost a year — like “Oh wow, I’m a part of ‘Hocus Pocus’ can you imagine that?” — then to see my name at the end of it solidified it and really drove it home. It was emotional.
I saw the movie and, I say this as a big fan of the first film, I think I might like this one better than the first.
Me too, but I might be bias [laughs]. Some people are saying they don’t like it as much as the first because of the ending (SPOILER ALERT ahead if you haven’t watched “Hocus Pocus 2” yet) saying that they don’t like that they made Winifred Sanderson nice. They didn’t make her nice! They just showed that the most powerful people in the world have their weaknesses, and no matter how powerful you are or above it you may be there’s a humanity in everyone.
In the film you play a drag version of Winifred Sanderson, alongside Kahmora Hall and Kornbread Jeté playing drag versions of your two sisters. How did that role come about?
“Hocus Pocus 2” is directed by Anne Fletcher, who directed me in “Dumplin’” on Netflix a few years ago, and she and I have become very good friends. I was over in the U.K. playing Ursula in The Disney Villains Ball, which seems so apropos now, and it was like three in the morning and my phone started blowing up from Anne. I texted her and said I am in the U.K, it’s three in the morning, this better be important. She told me to call her, so I did and she said “You know I’m doing ‘Hocus Pocus 2’?” I said, “Yes, I know, you lucky bitch” and she told me she created a role for me.
She told me I am going to be a drag version of Winifred who gets into an argument with Bette Midler, and I was like yes. Then she asked me if I had any suggestions for the other girls so I made a list of a couple of names for each one and sent it in. I was very honored that they chose two people from the list that I made, and the three of us meshed so well and had such a good time. But I didn’t even have time to think about it. I finished my role that night and got on a plane to Newport, Rhode Island to start costume fitting.
In your scene, you share the stage with Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker, all three icons within the LGBTQ community. What was it like working with these three women who are so revered within the community?
I knew Kathy from “Dumplin’,” we had gotten pretty close during that, so I was excited to see her again. But I was nervous, all three of us were in our make-up trailer nervous on our first day. Like we are going to be two feet away from these people who are such icons: What do we do? What do we say? What if we screw it up? We worried about it so much but when we got on set, each one of our counterparts came up and were very kind to us. Bette Midler looked at me and said, “Oh My God, you were robbed!” because “All Stars 6” had just ended. I don’t know if she’s watched an episode of “Drag Race” in her life but you could tell that the things that each one said to us had been thought about in advance so they could set us at ease, because they had such a respect for who we are and what we did. They made us feel like peers who were on their level, which is B.S. because we are not on their level and we know that. They are icons! But we never had a chance to be nervous around them.
And it wasn’t until the end of our week, it was our very last shot and we are out on the lawn where we were filming, and they yell “1, 2, 3” and the witches start flying over our heads and we grabbed each other’s hands and we were crying. It really hit in that moment like oh shit, this is real! We are a small part of this really big thing that is so important to all of us.
You can also be seen right now on Hulu in “Huluween Dragstravaganza,” which you host with Monet X Change. What can you tell us about this variety special?
I had no idea they were looking to do something like this but when they contacted me, they said we want you and Monet to host a variety show. That’s all they said at first. I’ve never hosted anything with Monet but I love her to death so I said, “why not, we’ll have some fun.” Then when we signed on, they told us it’s going to be the “Huluween Dragstravaganza” and it was going to be like a throwback to the old, almost like Carol Burnett kind of sketch shows, with special guests and brand new songs, dances and all sorts of stuff. That is right up my alley, I love doing stuff like that. Anyone who has ever been to a really good drag show understands that’s the recipe for a successful drag show. It needs to be more like a variety show; you’ve got the stand-up comedy, you’ve got the sketches, you’ve got the musical numbers. There’s a little bit of something for everybody. They took a lot of care with this to make sure there was something for every kind of drag fan.
If you pull the special up on Hulu, it lists it as season one, episode one. Is that a hint to viewers that this may become a regular series on Hulu?
Your guess is as good as mine at this point. I know that they have gotten a lot of really great feedback about it so we hope it will lead to something else. Who knows, maybe we’ll have the Arbor Day special where we stand around trimming our bushes.
I will say that they were all so good to work with and they treated us all with such care and made us feel really special and heard and validated. Monet and I, they gave us the scripts and they said, “We’ve written all these jokes, but feel free to make them more your own.” Much of what you see on screen is the stuff that we improvised on set that turned out really cute. We just felt creatively liberated. So I’m hoping that we get a chance to work with them again.
What is it about Halloween that appeals to you?
It’s the gay high holy day! It’s the one night of the year where most of the new drag babies are born. I think it’s because it is a safe space for everybody. If you can dress up as a werewolf or a ghost or a vampire, why can’t you put on a wig and heels and try out that side of yourself for one night? There’s a freedom that comes with Halloween that our community has really embraced. There’s also that part of Halloween that is a little bit weird and a little bit different, and I think people in our community have felt that way at some point in their life.
What was Halloween like for you as a kid?
When I was a kid, it was a lot like the first “Hocus Pocus” movie. I’ve seen a lot of memes this year that say its weird in that film you see a bunch of children trick-or-treating without their parents leading them around but that’s what it was like when I was growing up. All the kids on the block would put on their costumes and we would travel in packs, taking in a much candy as we could.
What was your favorite costume when you were younger?
I always wanted to be the Wicked Witch of the East from “The Wizard of Oz.” It was really my first time in drag. I would beg do be able to do it every year and my parents would always tell me no. Then when I was about nine or 10, my Aunt Glenda Faye had dressed up as a witch for a work thing, and my mom said if you can fit into your Aunt Glenda Faye’s witch costume then you can wear it, but I’m not buying you one. And I did, and I wore that thing for years.
You are currently touring with a new show, “Hocus Pocus Halloween Bash.” What can you tell us about the show?
I think it’s the best show that we’ve done. It is so solid. We have 11 musical numbers and they run the gamut from Broadway to country to rap. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the Sanderson Sisters sing “W.A.P.” now is your chance. It all started because when I was on set, Bette Midler said to me, “I really like the way that you do me and I’d like to see you take this and run with it.” So it gave me that kick in the ass I needed. I’ve been doing these characters for years for Halloween shows, so why not try and put a bigger show together based around them? We did and we opened it in Atlanta and people just lost their minds. It felt like a rock concert. It takes the best parts of the first movie and my favorite parts of the second movie and puts them together in a completely new story that we came up with and it is so much fun.
“Hocus Pocus 2” is available to stream on Disney+ and “Huluween Dragstravaganza” can currently be seen on Hulu. “Hocus Pocus Halloween Bash” will be at The Abbey in Orlando Oct. 31.
